A Visit from the Black Matriarch
by CellarGangGirl
Summary: Things go awry when Walburga Black shows up, demanding the company of her son, and not her favorite one...


Disclaimer: Obviously not. Let's be real here, I'm just not that great. What I _am_ is totally pumped for Pottermore.

AN: Well, of course it's another short one from me, isn't that just typical? Ah well, at least it's something. Honestly, I don't understand these ideas I get anymore... Ah well, R&R!

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><p>The door at the back of the classroom slammed open, drawing the attention of all the students and rather rudely waking a previously dreaming Sirius Black. He looked with bleary eyes in the direction that his mates' heads were turned. Instantly, he was awake, as though a Siren had been let loose in the room. He might've found the expression he was sure he made as funny as the now-sniggering James did, were the situation different; were it not his ruddy <em>mother<em> standing haughtily just inside the doors to Professor Ingleby's Muggle Studies class.

Alas, there stood Walburga Black, the center of attention in the near-silent class. His mind idly produced a joke about the class never being this quiet while his stare turned into a glare. What was she here for? Sometimes she'd visit Hogwarts, but he'd only ever heard the stories as word of mouth; she'd never stopped in to see _him_, it was always for Regulus. She and father came for every Slytherin Quidditch match - he always made sure to cheer on the opposing team as hard and loud as he could. And yet, flying in the face of all he knew, there she was. Just standing there, in a Gryffindor-Hufflepuff double, scowling and looking down her nose as though none of them deserved to be in her presence. He shrugged off the thought that this might just be an odd dream; honestly, his dreams were sometimes odd, but even _he_ couldn't have come up with something like this.

Had he not hated her so much, he'd have been impressed - she'd dressed to impress. She'd pulled one of her favorite gowns out of the closet for this non-occasion. The dress was entirely silk and lace, an empire-waisted old thing he'd not have recommended for her. It would've been lovely on another girl, perhaps one Lily Evans - he sent a sidelong glance to James - or Hestia Jones, whom he'd recently taken a fancy to, but his mother, as usual, managed to make it hideous in his eyes. It wasn't flattering at all - though the thought that _anything_ could be flattering on the woman made him inwardly snigger. He sighed, slumping in the chair. This was not looking to be a good day.

"I require the company of my son." She stated simply, directing her icy grey eyes to the man at the front of the class. He stuttered slightly, but eventually managed a reply.

"Of course, Madam Black. Sirius?" He inquired, and Sirius stood dutifully.

"Sorry, mate." James muttered under his breath. Sirius glared back at the boy.

"Bring my stuff back to the tower if I'm not back by the end of the hour." There was nothing more in his dismal voice, but he knew that James caught the _'or ever'_. Heading up the steps, he walked off to his doom. The eyes of his fellow peers watched until he passed through the doors. His mother followed him out, her wand swiping. The doors promptly slammed shut once more, leaving him alone to bear the brunt of his mother's pureblood mannerisms, which were appalling even by _his_ standards. Immediately, she started talking, as though they'd been in the middle of a conversation.

"Well, go on. It's polite to take me to see your rooms, Sirius. You do remember the classes we payed for when you were younger, don't you?" She frowned, giving him a snooty stare. Merlin, he hated being around her. He couldn't hold back the sneer that sprang to his face.

"Yes, mother, I remember them." He also remembered that the only good that had come of them was meeting James. Mother had insisted both her sons take classes to learn proper pureblood mannerisms - he was just lucky that James had been taking a shorter class held by the same people. _His_ mother knew enough to actually teach him by herself, unlike his own. He sighed, realizing that he'd begun the walk to Gryffindor tower without consciously being aware of moving.

He'd have to make his first order of business once she left to tell the Prefects to change the password before his mother could pass it on to ickle Regulus. He sighed.

"Muggle Studies, really? What a useless class. Honestly, Sirius. You should be taking something much more pertinent, something like Arithmancy." His mother said. He barely held back an indignant snort. Arithmancy, honestly? Like she even knew what that was, let alone whether it would be 'pertinent'. It sounded like the kind of thing Moony would say - aside from the derrogatory reference to muggles not being important, of course. If Moony had suggested Sirius take Arithmancy, Sirius would've laughed in his face- no doubt along with his other mates.

"Well, mother, it's not really pertinent at all, actually." It was nearly a physical strain to keep the condescending manner of his thoughts to himself, but he managed. They headed down a set of stairs and she scoffed at him in that manner that made him want to hex the daylights out of the nearest person. As that was, at this exact moment, her, he couldn't say he'd be too sorry.

"What future career could you _possibly_ need Muggle Studies for?" She sneered and spat the word as though it were cursed. He resisted the urge to scream at her, instead settling for merely infuriating her.

"I plan on becoming an Auror." He smirked. He had no plans of the sort, he only wanted to see her reaction to the fact that he was supposedly going to become a Dark Wizard catcher. Maybe he'd find some family members up to no good. Her back tensed, and they were only a corridor away from the Fat Lady now.

"You will do nothing of the sort." She spat furiously, nearly hissing like an enraged cat. He bristled at her words. How dare she... His mental rant was cut off - probably a good thing, since it would undoubtedly have ended with him blowing up at her - when they turned the corner into the hall leading to the Fat Lady, and he spotted two fellow sixth years conversing at the painting, both Prefects. One with flowing red hair... His mind immediately began concocting a plan, a plan James would not have liked at all. He smirked.

"Oi! Carnegie, Evans! Have you two met my dear old mum?" He was perfectly aware, of course, that they hadn't - Lily being a muggleborn and Oliver being only a half-blood. They were the sort his mother would never consort with - thankfully for them. They both looked at him. Carnegie appeared rather frightened, and Evans looked only confused, as though she were trying to work out under exactly what circumstance he thought she would have met his mother. He spoke before she could, which would have undoubtedly ruined the plan.

"She wanted to come and see my dorm, probably to make sure I'm keeping it in top shape. Probably gonna go do the same with Regulus afterwards, wouldn't you imagine?" He told them, raising his eyebrows at Evans since she was the smarter of the two, thus more likely to catch the hint. Her eyes narrowed a fraction, and he knew he'd been right. Well, at least he didn't have to worry any longer about the password. Just as he went to say the existing password, his mother's icy voice came from behind him.

"Evans? I don't recognize that name." He turned to look at her; her grey eyes, every bit as icy as her voice, were trained upon the redhead. This was the part of his plan he'd been relying on, and incidentally, it was also the part that James was going to severely dislike. He affected an air of normalcy, as though nothing was amiss.

"Well of course you wouldn't, she's a muggleborn, mother." Well, he'd said it, and there'd be no taking it back now. He turned back to the portrait - had to keep up appearances if she didn't take the bait. He needn't have worried though.

"WHAT?" He saw Evans and Carnegie jump a bit out of the corner of his eye, but simply turned around. He had been expecting this after all. He didn't get the chance to say anything before her even icier voice - if it were possible - cut through the air again.

"Sirius, how dare you. It's bad enough that you had to be sorted into Gryffindor," she gestured sharply to the portrait of the Fat Lady, who was watching the goings on with a raised eyebrow, seemingly somewhere between amused and indignant that she was being gestured to in such a way. "But really, this is just too far. Besmirching the name of Black by consorting with a _mudblood_!" She stated it as though it were the highest of all offenses, which he was sure it was by her standards. He was certain that he'd be in for it by the time summer came round. He wondered idly if he could find a way to escape to James' house while his eyes turned to Evans.

The girl's back had tightened at the word, her face screwed into a scowl that James would've said resembled an angry lion cub - ferocious but charming. He really needed to keep his inner James in check. He resisted the urge to snort. He was sure if he had, one of two things would've happened. A: he would've been reamed by his mother, who'd have likely(hopefully, really) left him without a home this summer, or B: he'd have been reamed by Evans, who looked on the verge of hexing something, which would've likely ended with him sleeping on the couch in the common room because James would've been so angry at him for upsetting her. Instead, he held in the snort and the smirk that was dying to creep onto his face, and turned to his mother.

"Really mother, is that any way to talk? Especially in Hogwarts of all places. It's hardly polite to the students." He gestured to Evans, who's back went even straighter, remarkably, than it had been before. He'd never seen a sneer like the one on his mother's face now. There was a commotion coming from the direction they'd come from, and he wondered if class had let out already. Well, it was time to wrap this up then. However, his mother began before he even had the chance to open his gob.

"Students? STUDENTS?" He wondered if she was at a loss for words, cringing slightly at her volume. Carnegie had begun edging backwards as though to escape, and Evans was wincing at the volume as well, the scowl still on her face. All the while, the noise of the students was getting louder by the second. Ah well, he supposed there'd be no way of hiding the encounter from James.

"She does _not_ count as a student! She has _absolutely_ no right to be here! Filthy little mudblood, how dare you!" She'd turned to Evans at this point, who took a small step back but otherwise held her ground. She wasn't know for backing down, as all her fights with James proved. The other Gryffindor's rounded the corner, lead by his fellow Marauders, just as his mother seemed to remember that her wand was in her clenched hand, and lifted it, pointing it at the younger witch's neck. While the scowl remained on her face and she didn't move again, he noticed the small change in her eyes that signaled her fear of a madwoman pointing a wand at her. Sirius froze, not really knowing what to do. This wasn't the direction he'd meant this to go in. She was only supposed to be furious with him for acknowledging muggleborns, not threaten Evans' life.

"EXPELLIARMUS!" The deep-voiced shout came from down the hall, and Sirius only took his eyes off his mother once her wand had flown out of reach. She seemed surprised that anyone had dared disarm her. He turned his eyes to the unknown savior only to confirm the thought that it was James. James would never let someone, especially someone like Sirius' mum, threaten his precious Lily. Speaking of Evans, she had yet to take the eyes that James fantasized about off of his mother, whose lip was curled back in a snarl at her. Just as James reached them, Professor McGonagall rounded the corner Carnegie had disappeared around, and Sirius was unsure whether the boy had scampered off to tell her, or if she had been alerted by James' shout. Speaking of James, he was hastily stuffing his wand into his robes.

"Don't bother mister Potter. As though anyone within a kilometer radius didn't hear your shout." McGonagall huffed as she drew up to them. Sirius sighed, this was all going fantastically wrong. James getting yelled at for protecting Lily?

"Mister Black. Go grab your mother's wand will you?" He complied, for once, without argument, retrieving the wand and bringing it back to McGonagall. James had moved closer to Evans, who looked a marginal bit more relaxed, but was still keeping her narrowed eyes trained on Mrs. Black. He handed the slim wand to his head of house, who was muttering about the nerve of people. She took it from him and stalked up to his mother.

"Come with me Walburga. I'll take you to Hogsmeade, where you can Apparate home. How dare you threaten one of my students..." They rounded a corner and her voice was too muffled to make out any longer. There was silence in the corridor, and Sirius turned back to face Evans and James. His mate had put a hand on the redhead's shoulder, wearing a concerned look. Her head whipped towards him and they stared at each other in silence for a few seconds. A blush started to grow on Evans' cheeks and Sirius raised a brow at the out-of-character action. She retreated slightly from James and bit her lip.

"Thank you." She said the two words and turned, speaking the password and entering the common room. The portrait swung closed behind her. James merely stared at the place where she had been standing, and Sirius stared at the portrait where she'd disappeared. He was sure he'd been the other one in hearing distance. Speaking of the other Gryffindors, they'd all began chattering again, and were headed this way, Remus and Peter at the forefront of the crowd. Sirius spoke the password and grabbed James by the arm, tugging him through and up to their dormitory to avoid the others. Once all four of the Marauders were sitting in the room, the silence still permeated the air. James was staring off into space, Remus was staring at James, and Peter was alternating between staring at James and staring at Sirius. So, it looked like it would be left up to him to break the silence.

"Well, I can only imagine the Howler _I'll_ be getting round breakfast tomorrow." He didn't say anything further, as three pillows promptly hit him in the head.

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><p>AN: Ingleby was not a real professor, it's from Lee Ingleby, who played Stan Shunpike in POA. I didn't really mean to make Sirius seem so cavalier about his mother attacking Lily, but in my opinion he'd think that James had handled the situation nicely, and it all got worked out in the end. As a side note, I imagine this would be one of the things that put James in the running for Head Boy. Hope you enjoyed, remember to review!<p> 


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